Feinstein Statement on Travel Ban Decision

Washington—Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today released the following statement in reaction to the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the travel ban:

“In a deeply troubling 5-4 opinion, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority today upheld the president’s discriminatory ban on travel from several Muslim-majority countries.

“It’s disturbing that the court gave little weight to the president’s hateful rhetoric on the campaign trail. He stated that he would consider closing mosques. He repeated the widely-debunked claim that Muslims were cheering on 9/11. He called for a ‘shutdown of Muslims entering the country until we can figure out what’s going on.’ The president’s clear biases against Muslims and Islam that motivated the travel ban in the first place should have been given stronger consideration.

“While upholding the ban on national security grounds, the opinion also ignores the fact that not one terrorist attack in this country has been committed by a refugee or citizen of the Muslim-majority countries targeted by the order.

“While today’s decision is disappointing, it’s important to remember that the first two iterations of the travel ban did not pass constitutional muster. They were struck down by lower courts, which recognized that those bans were motivated by a desire to discriminate against Muslims.

“As Justice Sotomayor said in her dissenting opinion, ‘a reasonable observer would conclude’ that the third version of the ban was also ‘motivated by anti-Muslim animus.’ Today’s decision is yet another reminder of the importance of our courts and the grave injustice of Leader McConnell’s decision to block the appointment of Merrick Garland.”

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